The Daily O’Collegian

Morguefile.com

The only state employees to get raises this year are Oklahoma's 267 judges.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s 267 judges got a 5 percent annual pay hike this year, while other state employees failed to get any salary increase.

When the fiscal year began July 1, the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals began earning $147,000, compared with $140,000 last fiscal year.

The 84 special judges in the state court system saw their salaries go from $100,050 to $105,053.

The Judicial Compensation Board meets every other year and makes a recommendation on pay for judges. The raises go into effect unless the Legislature or governor strike them.

Judicial salaries determine the salaries of statewide elected officials, although statewide elected officials’ salaries cannot be increased during their current term of office.

The salary of the governor equals the salary of the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The salary of the lieutenant governor equals the salary of an associate district judge.

The new salaries that they or their successors will receive won’t go into effect until a subsequent term of office begins in 2011.

Although no effort was made to nullify the recommended raises, the state House wanted to delay them until 2010.

Rep. Ken Miller, R-Edmond, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the five Republican members of the nine-member House General Conference Committee on Appropriations wanted to delay the raises.

However, their counterparts in the Senate didn’t consider that proposal.

“We felt like we needed to be consistent. We didn’t have raises for teachers or public employees,” he said.

The cost of the pay increase for the judges was $1,550,000.